Come With Me And We'll Be
by ThereputicChainOfEvents
Summary: Neverland is dying. Peter Pan has gotten used to taking and taking, and now his luck has run out. To restore Neverland and save his Lost Boys, Peter Pan must bring enough light into his life to balance out the darkness that has plagued his existance.
1. Chapter 1

The dark haired boy reached up, tugging a few leaves off of a low hanging branch. Bringing them back to arm level, he opened his hand to a fistful of cracked and crumpled shards. Tilting his hand he dropped the pieces into the wind. "The trees are all dead."

The blonde next to him nodded, glancing across the landscape.

Sunlight broke through the heavy layer of clouds. Beams cut into the trees in a few places and a few even managed to highlight the blonde's shaggy hair.

"Trees are dying," The first boy repeated. "Weather hasn't improved in weeks. The bottom level is turning into a mud pit. Boys are being forced to move the camp into the trees."

"Which are dying?" The blonde confirmed.

Another blonde walked up, "Pan." He addressed the boy already standing there.

"What is it now, Felix?"

"The boys just came back from a supply run. There's no food growth anywhere. Berries are all died. They can't find anything on any of the trees that we can eat."

"And the hunting?"

"Nothing. They didn't find any deer, there were a few rabbits but they were scrawny, hardly worth the effort."

"Did anyone make it through as far as the cove?" The dark-haired boy asked.

"Yeah, nothing there either." Felix answered. "The waters in the pond were still and the falls have quit."

"Still waters mean no fish." Pan asked.

The dark haired guy shook his head. "It's not just the fish." Looking out into the ocean, he pointed a finger. "No mermaids in the Cove, none in the ocean?" He looked at Pan. "The waterfalls quit flowing, and the mermaids and fish are leaving. What's happening to your island?"

"How about you swim out to your little mermaid friends and ask them why they're leaving?" Pan snapped at him, turning and walking away from their ledge.

Felix turned to Rufio, "Do you think he has any idea?"

He shook his head. "I've never seen him let the Boys suffer. If he knew, he would have fixed it." He walked off the ledge after their leader.

"Peter!" Rufio called after him. "Where are you going?"

The two caught up to him before he answered.

"To ask the beings who tend to have an answer for everything." Pan snapped, disappearing into a cloud of smoke.


	2. Chapter 2

There were whispers and the sound of frantic wings leaving the area.

"Peter Pan." Came a greeting behind him.

Turning, he found himself face to face with a small fluttering blue ball of light.

"It would seem as though you've shown up unannounced." The fairy informed.

He nodded. "I have, but for a very important reason."

A fairy-sized sigh escaped before the tiny ball of light exploded into a full sized woman. "It must be particularly important for you to extend as far as approaching us."

"You are the most in tune beings in the magical community." Peter cooed, attempting to sound as polite and sweet as possible.

Blue didn't look amused, "What would you like to know?"

"Neverland is dying." He admitted, watching her expression. "Trees and fruit are dying, prey is gone. Mermaids are gone."

She sighed, "There have been whispers, mermaid populations growing in all realms but yours. I suppose now we know where they're coming from."

"My Island is dying, Blue. My boys are going to start getting sick soon."

"Perhaps you should give them back to their parents." She suggested.

Peter chuckled, "Will bringing them home fix my island?"

Blue thought for a moment. "The only ones old enough to know are mermaids and perhaps some of the fairy council. I will ask around and return to you once I know more. Until then, I would begin taking the boys home before they starve or get sick."

"Will bringing them home fix Neverland?" He asked again, with more force.

"This sounds like an upset in the balance. Using your magic to take boys from worlds where magic doesn't exist, it could have been a final step in sealing the fate of your island."

Peter chuckled. "I've been doing this for far too long to believe that's what's happening. I will think on your suggestion, Blue, while I wait for you to ask your council."

"And if they reiterate what I've suggested?" She asked him as he walked away from her.

"Then I return the boys from places without magic."


	3. Chapter 3

The boys crowded into the main room of the tree house. Peter stood around the fire he had managed to start and control with magic.

Once they all settled down, Rufio called for silence.

"Now, I'm sure you have all noticed that the Island is in worse health that it was when you were originally brought here." Peter began. "I have never had this happen before, so I can't say when things will improve."

The boys remained silent.

"Some of you have been here longer than others, but I will make the offer to you all the same. I will not ask any of you to remain on an island awaiting sickness or death." He paused. "I will allow you to return to your Realms, no catch, no deals."

"Does this mean Neverland is going to die?" One of the younger ones asked.

"We aren't sure yet." Rufio answered. "But we would never ask you to stay if it means that you might die."

A few of the boys looked scared while a few others seem sad.

"Sleep on the decision," Peter suggested. "Come tomorrow, the shadow can take you back to your parents."

The boys all disbanded, heading to their bunks and tucking in for the night.

Peter left the treehouse, followed by Rufio and Felix. "Are the two of you thinking of leaving?"

Rufio scoffed. "I've been here so long, Peter. I'm not even sure if my parents are even alive."

Felix shook his head. "I wanted to be here then, that doesn't change just because the deer are gone and the trees are dead."

Peter nodded.

"How do we know that the fairies aren't just telling you a bunch of things just to get you to quit taking kids?" Felix asked.

"What, you think they're killing the island?" Rufio asked him.

"No. I think they're taking a chance. It's not secret that they fairies hate what Peter's been doing."

Peter thought for a moment. "Doesn't matter. If it is the 'balance' like they're trying to say, maybe it will get better once we take the boys back."

"And if they're wrong?"

Peter shrugged, "Both of you should get some sleep. I might need your help before too long." He wandered off into the trees.


	4. Chapter 4

Peter appeared on the mountain top, waving his hand and repealing the extensive Dreamshade from his path. The waterfall inside the cavern was nearly gone, a small trickle down the rocks…"I suppose Neverland really is dying." Peter mumbled aloud, glancing over at his Shadow as it floated outside the cavern.

Turning around, he moved over to the ledge, waving the Dreamshade back into place as he sat down.

The Shadow came to sit next to him.

"Blue thinks I upset the balance." He looked over at the ocean where the waters were still. "Even the mermaids have left." He attempted to move, fade into smoke and leave the cliff. Smoke rose up but he failed to go anywhere.

The shadow rose off of the cliffside and looked strangely at his companion.

Pan tried once again to teleport, once again failing. Standing from the cliffside, he tried to teleport back to the treehouse. Looking over at his shadow, he saw it effortlessly floating in the air. "Go to the magicless realm, make sure you can still open the portal."

It nodded, rushing off into the sky.

Turning to the vines of Dreamshade again, he attempted to wave the growth out of the pathway.

The vines shifted slightly, moving just enough to show the last few drops of water falling down the rock where the waterfall should have been.

Beginning the descent back towards the treehouse, he attempted to teleport as he went.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been more than a short while since Peter had walked across the island back to camp, and as he walked through the silent forests he realized just how much of Neverland had fallen into various states of death.

Once he got back to the empty camp he sighed, looking up into the illuminated treehouses.

A blue light glinted around his head, mildly surprising him, but not enough to have expressed outwardly.

"Welcome, Blue." He greeted, nonchalantly.

There was bright blue light for a moment as she became 'big'. "Peter."

"Have you found anything?"

"Perhaps, has anything new happened here?"

"Yes, now that you mention it…" He turned, starting a small fire in the camp. "I seem to be losing my powers."

She pondered that. "The others agree, as I feared that you have upset the balance in Neverland, and perhaps in other worlds."

"I've already asked the Lost Boys to decide whether or not they would like to go home. They will have chosen by morning."

"I am afraid it is more than that." She frowned, thinking for a moment. "We did manage to ask a few mermaids who fled from here not long ago."

"And?"

"They said that there is a darkness upon Neverland. Particularly upon the island, a type of darkness they cannot withstand."

"A darkness? From where?"

"Given that your powers are fading with the island, I would say the darkness is from a source you are rather close to. Darkness in magic stems from various places, Peter. Fixing it may require more than simply sending a few boys home."

"How about you just send me some of your sprites to brighten the place right up?" He seethed.

"It doesn't work that way, you must repair the darkness yourself."

Peter scoffed. "How about you tell me what caused it then?"

"If you don't find a way to repair this darkness, your island will continue to die. After your island, it will be the Lost Boys, Peter." She gave him a solemn look as she prepared to shrink to her usual size. "If your water and food sources have completely gone, how long can you intend for them to hold on in hopes that things will improve?"

"Long enough for me to fix it." He snapped, watching her shrink and the tiny blue ball to float off into the trees.

Sitting around his tiny fire, he delved into his mind, trying to remember how long ago the world around him had begun to die before he took notice.


	6. Chapter 6

In the end, more than half of the Lost Boys decided to leave. As spiteful as their decision made Pan, he recalled the blue fairy's words. You must repair the darkness.

Any retaliation against these deserters could only add to the darkness. Throughout the course of the night, the Shadow returned 8 Lost boys to the world without magic.

By dawn, there were 4, Pan, Rufio, Felix, and the shadow.

"Everyone else deserted me, why have the two of you chosen to stay?" Pan snapped at them over the campfire that night.

"We've been with you for generations, Pan." Felix offered in his low rasp. "Why would we abandon you now?"

"Our time has passed, Pan." Rufio answered. "Why go back to a world we don't belong in? We belong here now."

I watched the waters of Neverland drip slowly down the rock. Once the boys had left, the water had stabilized. It hadn't returned to the natural spring that it once was, but it hadn't run dry quite yet.

"It's so quiet here." Felix commented one day, setting his bow down next to the firepit. "I miss the boys running around and making racket and getting into trouble."

Rufio nodded. "We used to have to climb cliffs and get lost to get this kind of quiet."

Pan took a bite out of the fruit he'd plucked on the hunt. "I'm going to go back. Go throw a party the way we used to."

"I thought you …. Weren't sure how to get back and forth." Rufio offered.

Pan shrugged. "I've managed across a few magical ways to travel between worlds."

"Have you gone across?" Felix asked. "Since everything has happened?"

"Not yet, I was going to go once the sun settled." He looked at the two. "Care to join?"

Rufio shook his head. "I'll stay back and enjoy the silence while I have it."

Felix shrugged. "I've heard your pan pile many times before, forgive me if I decide to skip this time."

Peter nodded. "Just me and my Shadow then."


	7. Chapter 7

The Pied Piper was always a perfect ruse. No matter how many times I went between worlds, traveling in different times and cities. No matter how many times I showed up, there were always lost boys, escaping their homes at the sound of my pipe.

Boys who felt as though their parents didn't care or didn't love them. They came running down the street, finding my campfire and dancing until the dawn peaked the horizon.

The pipe only ever brought boy children. All of these centuries, only boys. I often wondered if it was the price I paid for my eternal youth. That I would always be presented with reminders of the choice I made so many years ago.

Tonight began no different than any time since I could remember. As I watched the lights dim in homes across the city, I settled into the city courtyard, lighting a small fire that would undoubtedly grow once children gathered around it.

Once the last of the lights facing courtyard dimmed, I picked up my pipe and began to play.

Within a few moments, boys began to run up to my fire, most of them in their sleep clothing. Some had grabbed overcoats and other masks and scarves from their rooms, each of them dancing around and partying around the fire as though they had no reason to waken in the morning. Laughter and shouting and yelling going unnoticed by sleeping adults in the surrounding homes.

The moon reached its peak in the sky and I was sure that any boys that would escape their homes, had already joined the celebration.

Reaching into the magic that remained within my grasp, I fed the fire, willing it to reach higher above the boys, commanding it to shine so bright the moon had no effect on our celebration.

As the fire grew a sound rang out above the yelling and animal sounds emitting from the boys. A sound so similar to song that it nearly escaped me that it was laughter. A sound of such elegant amusement that I was obliged to lower my pan pipe simply to hear the melody as it blessed the night air.

Looking across the fire, I sought the sound. Picking through the boys with their barking laughs and roars, my gaze settled on a girl.

A girl with hair so blonde that as the firelight glinted off of it, she seemed to be alight as well. A girl had never been called to me by the pan pipe, but here she was, twirling and dancing among the lost boys. Her nightgown covered nearly all of her, but her fingers extended gracefully as she danced on her tiptoes.

The longer I held my instrument silent in my hands, the slower she seemed to twirl. Her laughter died down ever so slightly, causing my own delightful mood to waiver.

Her eyes flitted across the other boys, before finally settling on the flute in my hands. Her dancing had brought her closer to me, and she focused on what little features were visible underneath my mask. Nervously ruffling her sleeves, she slowly approached my perch.

"Have you finished playing?" She mumbled out, barely louder than those around her. Her voice reached my ears, seeming as perfect as her laughter was.

"The hour is getting rather late." I answered, obscuring my voice to that which I had developed along with my Pied Piper persona.

"You play so beautifully," She complimented, "why would you ever take that sound away?"

A smile tugged at my lips, and I resisted as best I could. "You are far more wonderful than my playing. I would rather listen to that melody than my pipe."

She considered that for a moment. "If you promise to keep playing, I promise to stay."

"But how will I hear you over the sounds of the fire?" I allowed the edges of my mouth to turn upwards in amusement.

"I suppose I could dance closely." She mumbled, unsure of her offer.

"I would very much like that." I let the Piper voice flicker to my younger, boyish voice. Hoping she felt less intimidated by one her own age.

She blushed, tugging at her sleeves.

I shifted my mask, allowing her a glimpse of my eyes as I brought the pipe back to my lips and once again played the song I had believed only lost boys could hear.

She smiled and a laugh of happiness escaped her as she returned to dancing among the others. Keeping to her promise, she stayed near me, dancing to a song she shouldn't have been able to hear.


End file.
